In the Way

I got home tonight about 6:30. The sun was still up, but low enough in the sky that the back yard was shaded by the wall. I brought in the groceries, but I couldn't see CoolGuy anywhere. I stepped out onto the patio and there he was reclining in the hot tub, recovering from being ill today. I was sorry to see he wasn't feeling well, but I was thrilled to know that the tub was ready to get right in.

It was another exciting day in 4th grade. I've been doing "centers" this week. Which means that while I work with a small group, the other 25 students are supervising themselves. Yeah...right. No, really, sometimes Centers works well. Most of the time, actually. I divided them at the beginning of the year into skill groups with a test, but some people have been adjusted when they've shown me they've increased their skills. Then, the groups of six children each work quietly. One group is at the desks on the current writing assignment; another practices typing using home row keys on my classroom computers; a group uses whisper phones to practice fluency and then write a story with the Fry Phrases they've read; and the last group practices spelling patterns, again, according to skills and needs. I'm at a table with the fifth group.

Well, today, a couple of groups were just unable to work quietly. We've rehearsed their activities, we've rehearsed their voice levels, we've rehearsed our classroom expectations. But...every once in a while some people are just out of control. So, some spent recess with me and there's a group tomorrow who left the building screaming and running (and I couldn't hobble fast enough to catch up) who'll be spending recess with me tomorrow.

So, by the time I cleaned up and prepped for tomorrow, bought the groceries, and navigated the roads to home, I was sweaty, foot sore and exhausted. Awwww...the hot tub was PERFECTION!!!

Except. Usually we soak out there after dark. And since the sun was going down, roosting time for the local dove and pigeon population was approaching fast. In other words: it was Birdy Happy Hour and we were sitting in the martini. Maybe you've never heard a dove say, "Harrummp....excuse me, lady." But I did this afternoon. The wall around the pool had seven or eight doves. There were three or four pigeons on our roof, and four more on the neighbor's roof. They fidgeted a bit, then one or two of them flew down to the far end of the pool surround. One dove tried to get a drink from the pool, but it wasn't happening.

I felt a little bad, but not bad enough to get out of the hot tub right then. Finally we went in, and it was just in the nick of time. The sun was almost touching the mountains! Happy hour was ending! It was almost bedtime and the birds needed one more drink! They clustered on the tile between the tub and the pool where the water flows over the edge and had their little rendezvous and hurried off to their nests.

Sorry, guys, but my sore feet trump your routines.